Subramanian Swamy says security cover given to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq should be revoked

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday questioned the need for providing security to Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday questioned the central government on need for providing security to Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in the wake of lynching of Jammu and Kashmir deputy superintendent of police by a mob in Srinagar.

Speaking to ANI, Swamy said, "Police security is given by the state for those who take a stand against the militants. But these people here are the militants, so I think there is no logic in giving them security on the taxpayers money."

Farooq had earlier said he was deeply disturbed by the brutal lynching of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mohammed Ayub Pandith.

"The media is reporting falsely that when the incident happened, I was present inside the mosque. I reached the mosque at 12.15 a.m., while the incident had happened before that," he said in a press release.

"The incident that happened in Nowhatta outside the Jamia Masjid is the most unfortunate. I am deeply disturbed by this brutal act. Mob violence and public lynching is outside the parameters of our values and religion," he said.

Mirwaiz also said that this kind of brutalisation was all due to the misery being heaped on the people of Kashmir by Centre and the state government.

He repeatedly said that the Indian state has been asked to address the Kashmir dispute and initiate steps to resolve it so that the blood of Kashmiris is not shed and the killings along the LoC are stopped.

Pandith was lynched to death by a violent mob in downtown Srinagar yesterday. The deceased DSP was on surveillance patrol and was allegedly clicking pictures of people emerging from the Jamia Masjid when a mob attacked him.

With the situation getting out of control, he opened fire in which three people were injured.The angry mob then proceeded to attack him and took his life.

The police have recovered the body of the deceased and are investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said two people have been arrested and a third person has been identified in connection with the lynching.

(With agency inputs)